Lou Williams, Allen Iverson Protege, Will Love Lakers

Drafted in the second round with the 45th pick, Lou Williams is maybe an unlikely candidate to be signing his biggest NBA contract yet 11 years later. But when his Los Angeles Lakers contract becomes official, Lou Williams’ $21 million deal will look pretty sweet for a guy who came straight out of high school and stands only about 6’1″. What Williams does that makes him so valuable — and won him last year’s NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award — is easy to describe: Lou Williams scores.

In Los Angeles, Williams will play the role that Jamal Crawford (another Sixth Man of the Year) plays for that other team in LA, the Clippers — fiery versatile scorer, hard to guard. Williams was probably great in kindergarten, but he also had the advantage of watching the best small guard of all-time at close range — Williams was teammates with Allen Iverson on the 76ers. “Everybody knows our relationship and that he’s a big brother figure to me. We’ve always had a very close relationship, and him being my idol and me modeling my game after him,” Williams said of Iverson. And Iverson’s not the only famous convert to the Williams way — rapper Drake namechecks Lou in his cut ‘6 Man’. Williams will likely find himself part of evermore pop culture references in Hollywood. He plays a style of ball Lakers fans will love — in the land where Showtime used to be the thing.

Moses Malone on the cover of Sports Illustrated when David Blatt was at Princeton

Drafted in the second round with the 45th pick, Lou Williams is maybe an unlikely candidate to be signing his biggest NBA contract yet 11 years later. But when his Los Angeles Lakers contract becomes official, Lou Williams’ $21 million deal will look pretty sweet for a guy who came straight out of high school and stands only about 6’1″. What...